RADIO INTERVIEW: Tuesday, Nov 3rd, 3pm (Hawaiʻi time), Anne Keala Kelly will be interviewed by Basima Farhat on “The People Speak Radio,” streaming at www.thepeoplespeakradio.net. This show is produced by Mike Kim and recent guests include Dahr Jamail, Russell Means, Howard Zinn and Betty Peltier to name just a few. Mahalo nui to Mike and Basima for including the Hawaiian political and cultural issues “Noho Hewa” addresses on their show. Tune in and kokua independent, political, and socially relevant radio!

MAUI: Thursday, Nov 5th, 6pm, Maui Community College, Ka Lama room 103, screening followed by Q&A with filmmaker; this event is being sponsored by Hoʻokahua Project, Koʻa and the Hawaiian Studies Dept. DVDs will be available for purchase at this event and 10% of funds raised will go to the Hoʻokahua Project.

OʻAHU: Thursday, Nov 19th, 10am, Honolulu Community College, Bldg 2, room 201 (the Loui Room). DVDs will be available for purchase at this event and there will be Q&A with the filmmaker.

Hui Oiwi- Honolulu Community College Hawaiian Club, made this beautiful, massive display to announce the screening.

Close-up of Hui Oiwi display.

HAWAIʻI ISLAND: Saturday, Nov 21st, UH Hilo in room UCB-100, there will be a screening at 2pm, followed by a discussion with students and community members from 3:30-4:30, with a second screening at 7pm, followed by Q&A with the filmmaker. DVDs and t-shirts will be available for purchase at this event.

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, Monday Nov 30th, University of Michigan, 6pm,screening, Q&A and panel discussion with Associate Professor of Social Work, Michael Spencer and Associate Professor and Director of Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program in Amerian Culture, Vincente M. Diaz.

NEW YORK CITY: Thursday, December 3rd, Riverside Theater, 6PM, 91 Claremont Avenue (120th Street and Claremont), “Noho Hewa” will be screened as part of the African Diaspora Film Festival (www.nyadff.org). If you know any Kanaka Maoli in New York or people interested in the issues this film engages, please tell them about the festival. The Q&A (with filmmaker) afterward is guaranteed to be interesting!

“Ethnic cleansing isn’t just something that they do physically to people, it’s something that happens in the mind.”

This was said by Haunani-Kay Trask in an onscreen interview in the documentary “Noho Hewa.” Haunani goes on to say that ethnic cleansing establishes within a people’s mind-set that “You have no place to live. You do not have a home, so you do not exist.” This manao (thought) is what Anne Keala Kelly is trying to capture in her first feature length documentary, “Noho Hewa.”

As Hawaii prepares to celebrate its 50th year of statehood, a film that portrays militarism, sovereignty, and the loss of native Hawaiian culture comes at a particularly poignant moment for Hawaiians. Winner of the Hawaii International Film Festival’s 2008 Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Best Documentary, Keala Kelly’s film “Noho Hewa, The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii,” has an important message.

“If you really love this place, you need to watch this film,” says Molokai resident Hanohano Naehu of the 73 minute film.

The poem is a most fitting summary of the film (an uncompleted version was viewed for this review), which explicitly illustrates that the phenomenon of colonialism extends beyond the physical occupation of the land or replacement of the culture.